A Democratic bill with no cosponsors
Last activity — Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
In committee
Introduced and handed to a committee in the chamber it started in.
The committee holds it, and most bills are never heard from again. A hearing or a committee vote would be news; silence is the usual outcome, and it kills the bill without anyone voting against it.
Its path through Congress
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
This bill is called the Power Outage Family Assistance Act. It amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to help people and families during a prolonged power outage. The President can designate a prolonged power outage when requested by a State Governor or an Indian tribal government chief executive. This allows individuals and households to receive assistance for serious needs, medical costs, displacement, lodging, personal property, and miscellaneous items. This assistance can be given even if a major disaster is not declared. However, the rules do not apply to planned outages or outages caused by utility negligence.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
- Section 2 adding Section 431(b): This provision allows the President to provide direct assistance to individuals and households for serious needs, medical and dental costs, displacement costs, lodging expense reimbursements, miscellaneous item costs, and personal property costs during a designated prolonged power outage. This is a positive outcome because it helps people cover critical expenses even if a formal major disaster is not declared.
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Section 2 adding Section 431(c): This provision states that the new assistance does not apply to power outages that are planned, scheduled, pre-announced, or primarily attributable to negligence, failure to maintain, or failure to comply with reliability or safety standards by an electric utility or grid operator. This could be considered a burden or negative outcome for individuals because people who lose power due to utility company negligence or planned maintenance will not receive this specific federal assistance through this program.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Tap or hover a score for the reason it gave.
No significant interests or groups are affected by this bill.
- 10/22/2026
- Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Introduced in House